All tagged Investing
Two days before the quarter ended, the Fed held the line on interest rates and formally suggested that no cuts were coming in 2019. The central bank suggested that one or two cuts might happen, but not until 2020. The Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-1 to keep the benchmark rate in a target range of 2.25% to 2.5% – hardly a split decision (St. Louis Fed President James Bullard voted to cut rates).
The belief that you, or a particularly talented financial manager, can foresee the direction of the stock market is a seductive one. Some investors are confident that, with proper research, they can make money by snapping up equities when prices are low, and shifting their investments into cash or bonds when the market hits its peak. Even worse, they believe they can pay someone else can do it for them. But longitudinal studies have shown time and time again that no one can consistently predict the direction of the market in the short run.
As 2019 approaches, and with US stocks outperforming non-US stocks in recent years, some investors have again turned their attention towards the role that global diversification plays in their portfolios. For the five-year period ending October 31, 2018, the S&P 500 Index had an annualized return of 11.34% while the MSCI World ex USA Index returned 1.86%, and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index returned 0.78%. As US stocks have outperformed international and emerging markets stocks over the last several years, some investors might be reconsidering the benefits of investing outside the US.
